Do men feel threatened if their wives make more?

[Reha]

Re: Do men feel threatened if their wives make more?

@Ghost14

That’s idealistic but naive. Money makes a difference and some men simply cannot handle a woman earning more than them. On the flip side, most women want a guy that they can respect. If he’s just like her, only she’s much better, then it will be hard for her to respect him. It’s cynical and shallow, but that’s how humans are.

You misunderstood my comment about tax bracket. It was made in jest but the point was that a woman earning a six figure salary should look for a guy who makes a comparable amount. That comment was regarding high earning women not settling, not about women “marrying up”. That said, I mentioned social standing as well as tax bracket. A PhD earning 100k is far more attractive to most women than a criminal earning $1M+ (at least I hope so, any Carmela Sopranos in the house?). So if a high earning man lost his job, chances are he is well educated and has other aspects to his persona that you found attractive, which backs up my point about having other desirable traits (if he earns less).

To your first point…not every guy out there is making six figures. Not every wife is driving a benz or organizing shopping trips as the highlight of her day. So are those marriages suffering because the men are not banking? Money makes a difference - FOR SURE. No arguing with that point but is cash the only way a man feels masculine? Is money what makes him a man or is it more than that? I think for me…beyond anything its responsibility. If I made more than him but he felt it was his responsibility to provide for his family…I’d HANDS DOWN respect a man like that. One of my friends (Muslim and Pakistani) is in a position where she makes more than her hubby. I’ve asked her about how husband handles it and she says he has a strict rule about things…anything that you buy for the house and for you comes from my money. You can do what you please with your own money. She saves her money of course for her family but he feels she is his responsibility…their marriage is far from suffering.

To your second point…that is a can of worms best left closed. There is a growing number of women nowadays who hold professional degrees while their male counterparts don’t. Its one of the reasons you will find many many many women in their late twenties and early thirties single…because they are also looking for someone who is on the same level. But there aren’t enough men who are at the same level. It has nothing to do with their competence and I am not starting a gender war here…its their situation or life in general.